Guidance on using the Register of Smoke Flavouring Authorisations
Introduction
This electronic register is for information purposes. It sets out a list of smoke flavouring primary products permitted for use in Great Britain (GB), and provides detailed information on each of the approved primary products. The register does not replace retained EU Regulation No. 1321/2013 or retained EU Regulation No. 2065/2013 , which remain the legal basis for the placing on the market and use of primary products.
Understanding the register fields
Each primary product entry on the register includes its name, along with the:
- unique code for each primary product – e.g. SF-001. The authorisations for SF-007 and SF-010 expired on 1 January 2024 and so these primary products have been removed from this register.
- source materials – type(s) of wood used to generate the smoke from which the primary products are made
- purity – limits for certain metals
- specification – parameters to describe and characterise each primary product e.g., pH range, the amount of acids, water, phenols, or carbonyl compounds
- authorisation holder – name and address
- conditions of use – which foods the primary products can be used in and maximum levels
- notes on the use of primary products
- date first authorised and expiry date - smoke flavouring primary products are authorised for a 10-year period which can be renewed. During the renewal process the authorisation expiry dates will be extended by 6 months whilst the renewal applications are still being assessed.
- the date retained EU Regulation 1321/2013 was last amended for the primary product. To note: The Register itself will be updated after this date, but we want to show when the legislation changed.
- link to retained EU Regulation 1321/2013 and any subsequent legislation that amended this Regulation
Summary page
The summary page lists all permitted primary products and includes:
- the name and unique code of each primary product
- source material
- name of the authorisation holder
- food categories in which the primary product can be used
- expiry date of the authorisation
- the date the retained EU Regulation 1321/2013 was last amended. To note: The Register itself will be updated after this date, but we want to show when the legislation changed.
Maximum usage amounts for each flavouring differs according to which category of food it is being used in. You must check the individual product page to find out permitted amounts for each category.
Food category
The food categories used for smoke flavourings are based on those initially used in the food additive legislation (retained EU Regulation 1333/2008). However, there is some divergence where the food categories in the additive legislation were revised over time, which was not reflected in the smoke flavourings legislation.
The notable differences are for the meat categories 8.1.2. and 8.2.
Meat preparations (8.1.2) cover those products which meet the definition of a meat preparation as set out in retained EU Regulation 853/2004. For example, fresh meat, including meat that has been minced, such as burger meat and breakfast sausages. Meat products (8.2) include processed meat such as bacon and ham.
GB guidance on the food categories is in development and a link to the guidance will be provided in the future.
Table of categories and functional groups
| Number | Name |
|---|---|
| 0 | All categories of foods |
| 1 | Dairy products and analogues |
| 1.1 | Unflavoured pasteurised and sterilised (including UHT) milk |
| 1.2 | Unflavoured fermented milk products, including natural unflavoured buttermilk (excluding sterilised buttermilk) non-heat-treated after fermentation |
| 1.3 | Unflavoured fermented milk products, heat-treated after fermentation |
| 1.4 | Flavoured fermented milk products including heat-treated products |
| 1.5 | Dehydrated milk |
| 1.6 | Cream and cream powder |
| 1.6.1 | Unflavoured pasteurised cream (excluding reduced fat creams) |
| 1.6.2 | Unflavoured live fermented cream products and substitute products with a fat content of less than 20 % |
| 1.6.3 | Other creams |
| 1.7 | Cheese and cheese products |
| 1.7.1 | Unripened cheese excluding products falling in category 16 |
| 1.7.2 | Ripened cheese |
| 1.7.3 | Edible cheese rind |
| 1.7.4 | Whey cheese |
| 1.7.5 | Processed cheese |
| 1.7.6 | Cheese products (excluding products falling in category 16) |
| 1.8 | Dairy analogues, including beverage whiteners |
| 2 | Fats and oils and fat and oil emulsions |
| 2.1 | Fats and oils essentially free from water (excluding anhydrous milkfat) |
| 2.2 | Fat and oil emulsions mainly of type water-in-oil |
| 2.2.1 | Butter and concentrated butter and butter oil and anhydrous milkfat |
| 2.2.2 | Other fat and oil emulsions including spreads and liquid emulsions |
| 2.3 | Vegetable oil pan spray |
| 3 | Edible ices |
| 4 | Fruit and vegetables |
| 4.1 | Unprocessed fruit and vegetables |
| 4.1.1 | Entire fresh fruit and vegetables |
| 4.1.2 | Peeled, cut and shredded fruit and vegetables |
| 4.1.3 | Frozen fruit and vegetables |
| 4.2 | Processed fruit and vegetables |
| 4.2.1 | Dried fruit and vegetables |
| 4.2.2 | Fruit and vegetables in vinegar, oil, or brine |
| 4.2.3 | Canned or bottled fruit and vegetables |
| 4.2.4 | Fruit and vegetable preparations, excluding products covered by 5.4 |
| 4.2.4.1 | Fruit and vegetable preparations excluding compote |
| 4.2.4.2 | Compote, excluding products covered by category 16 |
| 4.2.5 | Jam, jellies and marmalades and similar products |
| 4.2.5.1 | Extra jam and extra jelly |
| 4.2.5.2 | Jam, jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut puree |
| 4.2.5.3 | Other similar fruit or vegetable spreads |
| 4.2.5.4 | Nut butters and nut spreads |
| 4.2.6 | Processed potato products |
| 5 | Confectionery |
| 5.1 | Cocoa and chocolate products |
| 5.2 | Other confectionery including breath refreshening microsweets |
| 5.3 | Chewing gum |
| 5.4 | Decorations, coatings and fillings, except fruit based fillings covered by category 4.2.4 |
| 6 | Cereals and cereal products |
| 6.1 | Whole, broken, or flaked grain |
| 6.2 | Flours and other milled products and starches |
| 6.2.1 | Flours |
| 6.2.2 | Starches |
| 6.3 | Breakfast cereals |
| 6.4 | Pasta |
| 6.4.1 | Fresh pasta |
| 6.4.2 | Dry pasta |
| 6.4.3 | Fresh pre-cooked pasta |
| 6.4.4 | Potato gnocchi |
| 6.4.5 | Fillings of stuffed pasta (ravioli and similar) |
| 6.5 | Noodles |
| 6.6 | Batters |
| 6.7 | Pre-cooked or processed cereals |
| 7 | Bakery wares |
| 7.1 | Bread and rolls |
| 7.1.1 | Bread prepared solely with the following ingredients: wheat flour, water, yeast or leaven, salt |
| 7.1.2 | Pain courant français; Friss búzakenyér, fehér és félbarna kenyerek |
| 7.2 | Fine bakery wares |
| 8 | Meat |
| 8.1 | Unprocessed meat |
| 8.1.1 | Unprocessed meat other than meat preparations |
| 8.1.2 | Meat preparations |
| 8.2 | Processed meat |
| 8.2.1 | Non-heat-treated processed meat |
| 8.2.2 | Heat-treated processed meat |
| 8.2.3 | Casings and coatings and decorations for meat |
| 8.2.4 | Traditionally cured meat products with specific provisions concerning nitrites and nitrates |
| 8.2.4.1 | Traditional immersion cured products (Meat products cured by immersion in a curing solution containing nitrites and/or nitrates, salt and other components) |
| 8.2.4.2 | Traditional dry cured products. (Dry curing process involves dry application of curing mixture containing nitrites and/or nitrates, salt and other components to the surface of the meat followed by a period of stabilisation/maturation). |
| 8.2.4.3 | Other traditionally cured products. (Immersion and dry cured processes used in combination or where nitrite and/or nitrate is included in a compound product or where the curing solution is injected into the product prior to cooking) |
| 9 | Fish and fisheries products |
| 9.1 | Unprocessed fish and fisheries products |
| 9.1.1 | Unprocessed fish |
| 9.1.2 | Unprocessed molluscs and crustaceans |
| 9.2 | Processed fish and fishery products including mollusks and crustaceans |
| 9.3 | Fish roe |
| 10 | Eggs and egg products |
| 10.1 | Unprocessed eggs |
| 10.2 | Processed eggs and egg products |
| 11 | Sugars, syrups, honey and table-top sweeteners |
| 11.1 | Sugars and syrups |
| 11.2 | Other sugars and syrups |
| 11.3 | Honey |
| 11.4 | Table-top sweeteners |
| 11.4.1 | Table-top sweeteners in liquid form |
| 11.4.2 | Table-top sweeteners in powder form |
| 11.4.3 | Table-top sweeteners in tablets |
| 12 | Salts, spices, soups, sauces, salads and protein products |
| 12.1 | Salt and salt substitutes |
| 12.1.1 | Salt |
| 12.1.2 | Salt substitutes |
| 12.2 | Herbs, spices, seasonings |
| 12.2.1 | Herbs and spices |
| 12.2.2 | Seasonings and condiments |
| 12.3 | Vinegars |
| 12.4 | Mustard |
| 12.5 | Soups and broths |
| 12.6 | Sauces |
| 12.7 | Salads and savoury based sandwich spreads |
| 12.8 | Yeast and yeast products |
| 12.9 | Protein products, excluding products covered in category 1.8 |
| 13 | Foods intended for particular nutritional uses |
| 13.1 | Foods for infants and young children |
| 13.1.1 | Infant formulae |
| 13.1.2 | Follow-on formulae |
| 13.1.3 | Processed cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children |
| 13.1.4 | Other foods for young children |
| 13.1.5 | Dietary foods for infants and young children for special medical purposes and special formulae for infants |
| 13.1.5.1 | Dietary foods for infants for special medical purposes and special formulae for infants |
| 13.1.5.2 | Dietary foods for babies and young children for special medical purposes |
| 13.2 | Dietary foods for special medical purposes |
| 13.3 | Dietary foods for weight control diets intended to replace total daily food intake or an individual meal (the whole or part of the total daily diet) |
| 13.4 | Foods suitable for people intolerant to gluten |
| 14 | Beverages |
| 14.1 | Non-alcoholic beverages |
| 14.1.1 | Water, including natural mineral water and spring water and all other bottled or packed waters |
| 14.1.2 | Fruit juices and vegetable juices |
| 14.1.3 | Fruit nectars and vegetable nectars and similar products |
| 14.1.4 | Flavoured drinks |
| 14.1.5 | Coffee, tea, herbal and fruit infusions, chicory; tea, herbal and fruit infusions and chicory extracts; tea, plant, fruit and cereal preparations for infusions, as well as mixes and instant mixes of these products |
| 14.1.5.1 | Coffee, coffee extracts |
| 14.1.5.2 | Other |
| 14.2 | Alcoholic beverages, including alcohol-free and low-alcohol counterparts |
| 14.2.1 | Beer and malt beverages |
| 14.2.2 | Wine and other products and alcohol-free counterparts |
| 14.2.3 | Cider and perry |
| 14.2.4 | Fruit wine and made wine |
| 14.2.5 | Mead |
| 14.2.6 | Spirit drinks |
| 14.2.7 | Aromatised wine-based products |
| 14.2.7.1 | Aromatised wines |
| 14.2.7.2 | Aromatised wine-based drinks |
| 14.2.7.3 | Aromatised wine-product cocktails |
| 14.2.8 | Other alcoholic drinks including mixtures of alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic drinks and spirits with less than 15 % of alcohol |
| 15 | Ready-to-eat savouries and snacks |
| 15.1 | Potato-, cereal-, flour- or starch-based snacks |
| 15.2 | Processed nuts |
| 16 | Desserts excluding products covered in categories 1, 3 and 4 |
| 17 | Food supplements excluding food supplements for infants and young children |
| 17.1 | Food supplements supplied in a solid form including capsules and tablets and similar forms, excluding chewable forms |
| 17.2 | Food supplements supplied in a liquid form |
| 17.3 | Food supplements supplied in a syrup-type or chewable form |
| 18 | Processed foods not covered by categories 1 to 17, excluding foods for infants and young children |
Use levels and related notes
Maximum use levels are set out for each food category and relate to the levels that may be used in the food as it is marketed. The only exception is for dried or concentrated foods that are reconstituted or diluted before use.
Note 1 states the levels apply to the food as prepared for consumption following any minimum dilution instructions on the packaging. It also states that the levels apply to the primary product itself. This means that when primary products are used to produce derived smoke flavourings, maximum levels must be adjusted accordingly based on the amount of primary product in the derived smoke flavouring.
Note 2 states that if two or more primary products are used in a food, the levels must be reduced proportionally. Industry guidance on this matter, including a spreadsheet to help calculate revised levels, can be found at: European Flavour Association website
Note 3 states that there are no maximum use levels when primary products are used to smoke processed meat (8.2) or processed fish and fishery products (9.2). In these cases, the primary product must be used in accordance with good manufacturing practices. This exemption exists as it is difficult to estimate how much of the smoke flavouring will be present in the final food due to loss during the smoking process.
Note 4 explains when a primary product can be present in a food not listed under the conditions of use. For example, if a primary product is permitted in a sauce (12.6) then it can also be present in an ice cream (3.0) even if there are no permissions for use for food category 3.0. However, the smoke flavouring can only be present in the sauce itself and not added directly to ice cream. Additionally, the level of primary product in the ice cream must not be greater than would be introduced using the sauce under proper technological conditions and good manufacturing practice.
Alternatively, if a primary product is allowed in ice cream but not sauces, then the primary product could be added to the sauce provided it is only used in the production of the ice cream. Any carryover rules mentioned above do not apply to food specifically made for infants and young children such as infant formulae and baby foods.
Search
The register enables a free-text search of entries which may be filtered using the following fields for individual primary product entries:
- Food category
- Expires before date
- Authorised before/after timeframes